T&T Auf Deutsch

Despite T&T 5th ed. having been translated to German in 1983 under the weird name Schwerter und Dämonen ("Swords and Demons"), I believe Tunnels & Trolls has never been very widespread or successful in Germany — contrary to, say, the UK, France or Italy.

It seems there are talks now of re-issuing the game in Germany. What little rumour I've managed to find on German-language blogs seems to imply that the new translation will be based on the 7.5 edition (which seems like a stupid idea since dT&T is so close now to being published, at least in a draft version that a translator could work on), but then other blogs do mention Deluxe Tunnels & Trolls as the possible source. Wait and see.

Whichever the actual outcome shall be, I have found a German-language post about the history of T&T, with a good explanation of the rules, a sample combat sequence, sample characters, etc., all in a nicely put entry. It is available here for those of you who read Krautspeak.

The Mother Of All Generators

There are three kind of GM bloggers. GM bloggers of the first kind copy pictures or links and say, oh, this is awesome. GM bloggers of the second kind create useful new stuff for other GMs to use. I like to think that I oscillate between the first and the second kind, depending on the inspiration of the day.

Then there are GM bloggers of the third kind (no, they're not humming aliens). GM bloggers of the third kind also create useful new stuff, but it's stuff that can be expanded, improved, and customised, not mere one-off stuff.

The kind owners of the Last Gasp blog definitely pertain to the third category. They have created not a generator, but a tool that enables fellow GMs to create generators (a meta-generator?).

Here's a sample generator that I have created in 2 seconds using their Choose Your Own Generator tool.

New BRP/D100 On-Line Fanzine

With all the blogs, with all the cheap or even free on-line magazines, etc., I had a feeling that 'zines were on the wane.

Yet Cronista, the ever-productive author of the Mundos Inconclusos blog, has managed to produce a very interesting 34-page Spanish-language 'zine exclusively dedicated to BRP/D100-based role-playing games.

Issue 1, available here, contains the following:

Desde el scriptorium, an introduction, in which Cronista explains why he's started the 'zine, and what games he will be covering: first and foremost RuneQuest 6, but also BRP, Magic World, OpenQuest, and Legend.

La saga de Vinland: the first part of a campaign setting set at the end of the 10th century and at the beginning of the 11th, in which Viking colonists set foot on the New World and start exploring it, obviously encountering the Natives in the process. The sandbox-like setting, firmly rooted in history, is reminiscent of Alephtar Games products. There is a map with numbered hexes, keyed locations, NPCs.... Possibly hours and hours of gaming. This is very good work; it occupies about 80% of issue No.1 of the 'zine.

La panoplia: additional weapons for RuneQuest 6, many of them Oriental in flavour -- which is actually a pity because it does not tie in with the main theme of issue No.1.

Monstruos de los mitos: How to adapt CoC creatures to RQ 6.

Random Generators Galore

Did I ever tell you I loved random generators? Hmmm.. Yes, I probably did. OK, I've just stumbled upon a web-site with random generators galore. And they're really nifty random generators; they're not powered by old-fashioned D30's like mine, they're based on various scripts, pieces of code, Markov chains, and other forbidden lore, that yield a huge array of results.

The site goes by the fanciful name of donjon.

My favourite random generators are:

• the Random Dungeon Generator – Old School at its best
• the Random Treasure Generator (to populate your randomly generated dungeons)
• the Random Weather Generator (whoa)
• the Weird Random Generator – 'cause it's weird
• the Star Wars D6 System Generator (whoa)

You're gonna spend hours and hours poring over all the generators, you're gonna hate me :)

YARG (Yet Another Random Generator)

For some reason I dig random generators. Maybe they epitomise Old School gaming, who knows. Anyway, ever since I've read this post one month ago, I've been thinking about using the cards from the game Citadels as elements for yet another random generator.

Set-Up

Separate the cards between characters and districts. Shuffle each pack of cards.

Use

You'll either want to randomly generate an NPC, or a neighbourhood for when the party is unexpectedly exploring the city, and has caught you unawares.

Random NPC Generator

1. Take a card from the characters pack. Depending on the card, the NPC is...
    Assassin > an Assassin
    Thief > a Thief
    Magician > a Wizard
    King > a Nobleman
    Bishop > a Rune Priest
    Merchant > a Trader / a Merchant
    Architect > a Sage
    Warlord > a Fighter
    Witch > a Healer
    Tax Collector > a Lawspeaker
    Wizard > a Wizard
    Emperor > a Nobleman
    Abbot > a Rune Priest
    Alchemist > an Alchemist
    Navigator > a Sailor
    Diplomat > a Minstrel / a Skald
    Artist > a Musician / an Entertainer
    Queen > a Noblewoman

2. Take a card from the districts pack. The value of the card will yield the level of the NPC:
1-3: Inferior
HeroQuest: Ability at 17
LotFP: Level 1
RuneQuest/BRP: Skill at 50%
Tunnels & Trolls: Primary Talent at +2
4-5: Average
HeroQuest: Ability at 1Ш
LotFP: Level 3
RuneQuest/BRP: Skill at 75%
Tunnels & Trolls: Primary Talent at +4
6+: Superior
HeroQuest: Ability at 5Ш
LotFP: Level 5
RuneQuest/BRP: Skill at 100%
Tunnels & Trolls: Primary Talent at +6

3. Take a second card from the districts pack. This will indicate where the NPC is coming from, or where the party has met him.

Random Place Generator

1. Take a card from the districts pack.This is the current neighbourhood the party is exploring.

2. Take a card from the characters pack. This is an important NPC the party is going to meet / the person pulling the strings in this neighbourhood. Determine per No.1 above.

3. Take a second card from the districts pack. The value of the card will yield the level of the NPC per No.2 above.

Latest Deluxe T&T Update — Still Quite Worried

Wow! Two Deluxe Tunnels & Trolls updates in a row. Apparently some backers are getting angry at not having received anything (except the postcards we received last year).

Unfortunately most of the backers' anger seems directed at not having received any of the promised goodies, not at not having seen anything rules-wise, not even a very first draft of the rules. People are weird.

So Rick has written a lengthy update explaining that it would be cheaper to send everything at once (which makes perfect sense), and giving some information on where they are with regards to the rules. Now, that's where I am still quite worried.

I am quoting: Ever looking to tweak and revise, Ken has continued to make changes to different sections of the rules. He has given Liz at least three versions of combat, there were three versions of talents (the final version will be number four), and right now Ken and Bear are wrestling over a second version of the weapon charts. My translation is: they've just started writing the rules. Bloody hell, this means that they didn't have anything to start with when they set up the KS in the first place. Well, I guess not everyone is Kevin Crawford, who has started his KS when he already had an almost-finished version of the text and was mostly looking to finance the art.

Also, Rick has revealed that Liz has set the following tasks and goals for the months ahead: [...] My immediate priority: finish the core section of the rules. Er, again this smacks of not having anything at the moment.

This is not a big deal. My gaming life won't collapse because the DT&T KS is late, and I'd rather wait two more years and have a fantastic version of DT&T than receive some shitty version in 2014. Also I know that Liz et al are not-too-young now, and that they live in the Land of the Free™ where even the slightest health issue can wreck your life because of the financial implications, but honestly they could have waited until they had at least an alpha version of the rules or something before setting up the KS. This just reinforces my view that game designers are simply jumping on the KS bandwagon for the easy buck (or quid) nowadays.

Old School Gloranthan LARP

Just found this on Google Plus and wanted to give everybody a heads-up. This should be of special interest to Britons.

A new venture is starting up in Birmingham, UK that will feature LARP in Glorantha. Those chaps have developed a set of rules firmly rooted in Old School RuneQuest (e.g., POW and Battle Magic).

Moon Design have also kindly authorised them to reference spell names, cult names etc, so I reckon reading their site should be interesting even if you're not planning to attend their LARPs in the Midlands. The site is called The Big Rubble — and the name itself is a testament to their love for Old School RuneQuest.

Dryad Treasure Chest

The following post has been inspired by a picture on the fantastic Chaudron Chromatique blog.

It is a well-known fact that Humans are incredibly greedy. Plant-Men are aware of this, and they take advantage of this cognisance to trap unwary human travellers to their forests and jungles.

The Dryad Treasure Chest is one such artifice. Mreli or Embyli (depending on the local flora) would persuade a pair of Dryads to grow together in an embrace around a treasure chest. This is quite a sacrifice for the two Dryads because they are then linked to the treasure chest instead of being linked to a whole grove of trees. Only a single tree from the grove remains with them and grows on top of the treasure chest.

Each treasure chest has been individually crafted and filled in by the Plant-Men, so it is difficult to generalise as to its contents. Plant-Men would usually fill it with precious treasures such as gems or magical items that carry a slight, nearly undetectable dwimmer-craft that gives off its negative effects weeks or even months after having been displaced. The idea is to affect the largest possible number of Humans.

The treasure chest itself is quite difficult to get hold of, so as not to arouse the suspicion of the greedy adventurers. The Dryads' eyes have the usual glamour-like effects, and their arms are very strongly curled round the treasure chest. The fruit hanging from the branches is brightly-coloured so as to entice the unwary into tasting it, to ill effects.

art by Cédric

Tunnels & Trolls version

Dryad Treasure Chest

(1) Each Dryad has eyes that cast a glamour-like effect onto anyone gazing directly into them. Technically, any delver looking at either Dryad must make a L5SR on WIZ or any Talent along the lines of "Resist Charm" or "Immune to Plant Magic". If the saving roll is missed, the victim remains in a lovestruck state for 1D4+1 hours; during this time, the victim wants to protect the Dryads and the chest, and will violently oppose anybody harming or otherwise messing around with the Dryads, the chest or the fruit.

(2) The Dryads won't otherwise act, but they have a combined STR of 50 around the treasure chest. This combined STR must be overcome to take the chest away. The chest weighs (1D6+4)×20 pounds.

(3) Should the delvers try to hack down the Dryads rather than overcome the STR of their arms, consider that the combined Dryads have a MR of 450.

(4) The fruit (of which there are always several available on the branches) looks alluringly delicious. Any delver looking upon the branches must make a L4SR on INT or any applicable Talent. If the saving roll is missed, the victim will rush to the tree to eat some fruit.

Roll 2D6 for the effects:
     02 | Victim is immediately turned into a Slorifing and runs away. He or she is an NPC now. The player may roll up a new character.
     03 | Victim is immediately turned into the appropriate form of Plant-Man (Mreli or Embyli)
     04 | Victim will worship Aldrya (if male)/Uleria (if female) from now on. Victim loses any magic associated with his or her former cult.
     05 | Victim becomes of the appropriate colour (brown or yellow); no other ill effect, but victim will have a hard time in less tolerant areas ("burn the monster!")
     06 | Victim becomes a plant-human hybrid. Roll 1D6 to find out which part of the body becomes vegetable: 1- head, 2- arms, 3- chest, 4- abdomen, 5- groin, 6- legs. The vegetable body part now contains sap instead of blood; it cannot be healed by human healing magic, only by Aldryami healing magic from now on. If the groin is affected, the victim can only produce children with a Dryad from now on.
     07 | Victim will forever defend vs plant magic with a penalty of 1 level, e.g., if the GM calls for a L2SR, the victim will have to make a L3SR.
     08 | Victim becomes vegetarian.
     09 | Victim becomes vegetarian and develops a hatred for non-vegetarians.
     10 | Victim becomes a frugivore.
     11 | Victim is slowly transformed into the appropriate form of Plant-Man (Mreli or Embyli), over a process that lasts 1D12 months.
     12 | Victim is slowly transformed into a Slorifing, over a process that lasts 1D12 months. Once the transformation is complete, the victim runs away. He or she is an NPC now. The player may roll up a new character.

(5) The treasure itself. The GM must decide what the treasure contains. 1 magical item + a stash of coins are suggested. The coins are important because they are possibly going to be spread amongst hundreds if not thousands of humans over time.

1D4 months after the treasure has been retrieved, the ill effects kick in. Anyone in contact with any part of the treasure, even a single coin, must make a L1SR on LK and a L2SR on CON. If the LK saving roll is missed, apply the effects of a random 1st level spell. If the CON saving roll is missed, the victim loses 1 permanent point of CON through spore contamination.

Non-D&D OSR Blog Challenge

This is from a list of questions in the Tomb of Tedankhamen:

1 What was the first roleplaying game other than D&D you played? Was it before or after you had played D&D?
Tunnels & Trolls 5th ed. And that was after I had played D&D.

2 In what system was the first character you played in an RPG other than D&D? How was playing it different from playing a D&D character?
Tunnels & Trolls 5th ed. It wasn't really that different from playing a D&D character because at the time all we did was dungeon crawling.

3 Which game had the least or most enjoyable character generation?
Least enjoyable: Space Opera. Or the French rpg called Légendes. What a pain in the arse.
Most enjoyable: Any that didn't require hours and hours of calculations. I think I quite enjoyed creating AD&D characters.

4 What other roleplaying author besides Gygax impressed you with their writing?
Steve Perrin, Ken Saint-André.

5 What other old school game should have become as big as D&D but didn’t? Why do you think so?
RuneQuest 2 (the original, Chaosium edition). It had a vastly superior system (hit locations, no character classes, no levels, no HP inflation), it had better products— Griffin Mountain, Pavis & Big Rubble, Borderlands, those are in my opinion the real OSR stalwarts, not Against the Giants or the Tomb of Horrors. I think the reason it failed was the über-stupid move from Chaosium to Avalon Hill just when the game was at the peak of its popularity. Or perhaps the crash of RQ:AiG.

6 What non-D&D monster do you think is as iconic as D&D ones like hook horrors or flumphs, and why do you think so?
The Gloranthan Troll.

7 What fantasy RPG other than D&D have you enjoyed most? Why?
RuneQuest 2.

8 What spy RPG have you enjoyed most? Give details.
None. I would have liked to try out Mercenaries, Spies and Private Eyes.

9 What superhero RPG have you enjoyed most? Why?
I think I played Villains & Vigilantes once, but I don't think the super-heroic narrative translates well into role-playing.

10 What science fiction RPG have you enjoyed most? Give details.
Méga (a French role-playing game) because it was really what the GM made out of it, and I GM'd it really gonzo.
Star Wars (D6) because, well, Star Wars, and because the engine was quite good.

11 What post-apocalyptic RPG have you enjoyed most? Why?
I haven't played any post-apocalyptic RPG.

12 What humorous RPG have you enjoyed most? Give details.
I haven't played any humorous RPG, unless you count T&T in :)

13 What horror RPG have you enjoyed most? Why?
The Call of Cthulhu because of its engine (BRP), because of the setting (the 20s), and because I adore Lovecraft.

14 What historical or cultural RPG have you enjoyed most? Give details.
For historical gaming, BRP is best, but since this post is about old school I must admit I used AD&D for historical gaming before the various new versions of BRP (BaSIC, the BGB) came out.

15 What pseudo or alternate history RPG have you enjoyed most? Why?
I haven't really played pseudo or alternate history RPGs. I like my history to be accurate.

16 Which RPG besides D&D has the best magic system? Give details.
RuneQuest, with its battle magic that everybody has access to, even non-spell-casters, and with different cults getting access to different spells. And that was waaaaay before the priestly 'spheres' of AD&D2.

17 Which RPG has the best high tech rules? Why?
No idea. I'm not a big fan of sci fi games.

18 What is the crunchiest RPG you have played? Was it enjoyable?
19 What is the fluffiest RPG you have played? Was it enjoyable?
I don't tend to use those categories.

20 Which setting have you enjoyed most? Why?
Glorantha. Because myths are real.

21 What is the narrowest genre RPG you have ever played? How was it?
The narrowest genre RPG I've ever played is D&D. To me "D&D-ish fantasy" is a very narrow genre.

22 What is the most gonzo kitchen sink RPG you ever played? How was it?
Méga. PCs can be space- or time-travellers, and one of the official adventures featured a world made up of different shards from various epochs of the Earth, with the GM being encouraged to exaggerate the clichés about its inhabitants and their accents when playing NPCs.

23 What is the most broken game that you tried and were unable to play?
Oriental Adventures. It was so un-East Asian I wanted to cry.

24 What is the most broken game that you tried and loved to play, warts and all?
Call of Cthulhu. If the PCs survive the first adventures and start acquiring explosives, magic, etc. it becomes a very broken representation (to say the least) of Lovecraftian horror.

25 Which game has the sleekest, most modern engine?
Tunnels & Trolls 7.5.

26 What IP (=Intellectual Property, be it book, movie or comic) that doesn’t have an RPG deserves it? Why?
Space Usagi. Laser swords and dinosaurs. In space.

27 What RPG based on an IP did you enjoy most? Give details.
Star Wars D6. I found it really close to the atmosphere of the original trilogy.

28 What free RPG did you enjoy most? Give details.
Er, if the BRP Quick-Start Rules count as a free RPG, then that's the one.

29 What OSR product have you enjoyed most? Explain how.
Cults of Prax (1979). Best "religious" RPG supplement ever.

30 Which non-D&D supplemental product should everyone know about? Give details.
Cults of Prax, as a lesson in writing an RPG supplement about religious cults.

31 What out-of-print RPG would you most like to see back in publication? Why?
RuneQuest 2. Because it is the best fantasy role-playing game ever. Period.

RuneQuest 6 "Pack" - Best Bundle Of Holding Deal Ever

The latest Bundle of Holding offer enables you to buy RuneQuest 6 and the Book of Quest series of interconnected adventures for a mere USD 6.95. Now the RQ6 PDF itself normally costs CAD 25, and the PDF of the Book of Quests CAD 8, so by buying the current bundle you're already saving a hefty 77% off the nominal price!

But the Bundle of Holding is a charity so the idea is to entice donors to give more. By spending more than the current threshold (USD 16 as I'm writing this), you get three bonus supplements: the universally acclaimed Monster Island and its companion, and the mid-range adventure Hessaret's Treasure.

Spending extra to purchase Monster Island, which has been unanimously described as the best S&S supplement in years, is a no-brainer. Its PDF normally costs CAD 14.99 (approximately USD 13.54) so by adding a mere USD 2.50 you get a whole bundle of products so it's still interesting even if, like myself, you already own RQ6 and the Book of Quests.

ONLY SIX DAYS LEFT SO HURRY UP!

The Deluxe T&T KS Updates Keep Worrying Me

The Deluxe Tunnels & Trolls Kickstarter updates continue keeping me worried. I have mentioned the one which, for the very first time, has actually tackled the contents of the rules rather than the various goodies available for backers.

Well, apparently that particular KS update has attracted lots of backers' comments, the ones in favour of the talent tiers, the others against them, whilst some others were against the use of talents in T&T altogether [why do these guys need a Deluxe version of T&T, then??].

Rick has explained that the feedback is going to be taken into account. To me this means "we haven't really started writing the DT&T rules, we'll use this stuff as input when we do start".

In another KS update, Rick complains that some backers have complained about not having received any draft version of the book yet. Well, Rick shouldn't have complained-- it's pretty normal fare in all the KS projects I've funded to receive draft versions of the game before its completion. So what did Rick throw at us backers? A free PDF of the 4th edition of T&T, all the way back from... 1977. In my eyes, this confirms that they really haven't started working on DT&T yet :-(

[Deluxe T&T] Talents

The latest Deluxe T&T update received through Kickstarter is the first one with real meat. All the previous updates were about forgettable gadgets (bookmark, coins, dice, postcards, etc.) or about 'uh-oh we're going to be late'.

As I've said above, update No.47 was the first meaty update, with a link to a 20-page document detailing the beta version of the Talents section of Deluxe T&T. I haven't read it yet, but it does seem to deviate significantly from Ed. 7.5 (which is more or less the version I'm using for my house rules).

Not sure if I'm allowed to post excerpts, examples, what I think of them, etc. I'll let you know.

22/01/2014 Edit:   OK, I've had had time to read the chapter. Ohmygod I hate the new mechanism. Instead of being represented by a full number (as in the standard 7.5 rules) or by a bonus (as in my Timinits & Trolls rules), Talents are now expressed through a 'level'. There are four of those, and each of them corresponds to a different discrete bonus.

This simply adds a further (and, in my view, unnecessary) step to the basic mechanism. Let me use an example. Delh the Delver has DEX 15 and a Talent for Acrobatics expressed as '17' or as '+2', depending on how you like to write it down on your character sheet. If the GM calls for a SR on Acrobatics, you immediately know that you'll be basing your success on the number 17. With the new system, instead of '17' or '+2', your character sheet reads 'average' [note: I am making this up so as not to reveal the exact contents of the DT&T chapter I've received as a backer]. So when the GM calls for a SR on Acrobatics, you first have to "translate" your skill level of 'average' into a +2 before knowing that your success is going to be based on the number 17. Same mechanism as before, but with one extra step.

Encumbrance

I am a “rules lite” GM. I hate it when narration or gameplay are bogged down by calculations or by having to look up tables in the rule book. But I am all in favour of verisimilitude, and I also hate it when player characters carry too much loot or gear. So it's quite a dilemma as to how to manage PC encumbrance.

In all honesty, in my 30+ years of GM'ing, I haven't found any satisfactory solution and, as a result, I've always ignored character encumbrance and relied on my judgement to referee situations like chases, maximum loot carried, influence of armour on skills, etc.

Now I have just stumbled upon a solution that seems simple enough that I want to try it out the next time I'm GM'ing Timinits and Trolls. Basically, here's how it works: there's a new (derived) characteristic called CAPacity. It is computed by taking the smallest score amongst STR, CON, and DEX, and adding 10 to it. This is the amount of stones the player character may carry.

So if Delh the Delver has STR 15, CON 19, and DEX 17, his CAP is equal to 25.

The other nice subtlety of the system is the following rule: “items which can be carried in one hand weigh 1 st. If you need two hands it weighs 2 st.” — this effectively removes the need to clutter up the character sheet with detailed weight calculations. For smaller items, 20 w.u. equal 1 st. [note– this is for encumbrance purposes only, since the maths don't add up: a T&T w.u. is equal to one-tenth of a pound, meaning 20 w.u. equal 2 lb, whereas 1 st is 14 lb].

A character who is too encumbered loses reactivity. The real SPD to be taken into account whenever it's needed is the lowest between “free” CAP and SPD. “Free” CAP is defined as the original CAPacity of the player character minus the gear and loot he's carrying as expressed in stones.

Delh the Delver has CAP 25 and SPD 17. He is carrying 5 st of gear; his “free” CAP is hence 20. Should the GM call for a SR on SPD, Delh would use his SPD of 17.

Now Delh is carrying 10 st of gear; his “free” CAP is hence 15. Should the GM call for a SR on SPD, Delh would use his “free” CAP of 15 instead of his SPD of 17.

Alternatively, the GM may use the difference between the lower “free” CAP and the SPD score as a malus for encumbrance-impacted Talents.

Delh the Delver has an Athletics Talent of 23. However, he is in the situation where he is carrying 10 st of gear and his “free” CAP is thus lower than his SPD by 2. Should the GM call for a SR on Athletics, Delh would use a reduced Talent of 23-2=21.

Inspirational Pictures of Pamaltela

The north side of the Tarmo Mountains during the Storm season:

The south side of the Tarmo Mountains where they slowly roll down as hills towards Jolar:

Exile Island, off the coast of Umathela:

Steve Perrin Interview - 2

Steve Perrin's works have always been extremely influential to me. I think he is really, really one of the most underrated people in the industry. Ah, well.

Anyway, as soon as the rare Mr Perrin gets mentioned anywhere in a publication or on the internet, I must read the piece. The last time I stumbled upon an interview of his, it was two years ago, and I blogged about it.

Well, there has been another interview recently, and I am promptly providing the link. This latter interview focuses on the early history of role-playing, on how much influence the Perrin Conventions/the RuneQuest rules have had on what is probably today's most heavily used set of frp rules — without due credit even being given to the pioneering work of Messrs Perrin, Turney et al. Sigh. Anyway, enjoy the interview! (which does not otherwise reveal any particular secrets)

Castle Waiting

I love the Castle Waiting comic book series by Linda Medley. Drawn in a simple yet precise B&W style, it tells the stories of various characters set in a world reminiscent of Europe's fairy tales. Contrary to Fables, which focuses on the most famous characters of the fairy tales (Snow White, Cinderella, etc.), Castle Waiting focuses on the characters who live in the background of the main protagonists.

The landscape, architecture, and costumes depicted in Castle Waiting suggest a fantasy version of north-western Europe between the 15th and the 17th centuries. Supernatural creatures from both the Christian and Nordic mythologies abound, more so in less inhabited areas; cities, however, do have their share of anthropomorphic animals. In addition to these, there also are Slavic beings, which is cool because I am quite fond of Slavic mythology. On the other hand, I haven't really been able to connect the anthropomorphic animals with any particular tale or legend.

The eponymous Castle Waiting is Sleeping Beauty's former castle — after she's abandoned it to live with the handsome prince. Part of her retinue still lives in it, and it has attracted all manners of misfits from round the world, most notably Simple Simon and his mother, two beastmen (a stork-man and a horse-man), a bearded nun, a single mother with a leshyi child, Iron Henry, a plague doctor, and several smaller fairies/goblins. There's also a community of Hammerlings (dwarves) living in the vicinity of the castle, and gipsy-like travellers.

In my Second Age Glorantha [which varies a lot], Castle Waiting is set on a small promontory overlooking the Dashomo Sea, north of [Third Age] Fengwal. This corresponds to the top left part of map No.68 of the Argan Argar Atlas. It is a former fortified mansion owned by a kind of Malki trader prince, and which now functions as a refuge for those who have lost all due to the upheavals affecting Umathela:
 - Sentient animal-human hybrids who have escaped the cellars of the mad GodLearners
 - former GodLearners who were not really involved in this madness
 - Malki nuns
 - visiting vegetarian dwarves from the Mari Mountains
 - unemployed delvers

Guide to Glorantha KS Update (cont'd)

OK, we knew the books would only be available in 2014. But Jeff promised that at least we'd receive the PDF of the Guide to Glorantha in December 2013. I had my doubts, and they have been confirmed; the latest update says the Guide will be split in two PDFs. One that we'll get at the end of the month, and another one that we'll receive in January. Well, I'm not surprised, and I'm not even angry because when you see art like this you are ready to condone pretty much anything. This is simply AMAZING.

Sog City

The Latest Deluxe T&T Update Worries Me

The latest post on T&T aficionado Tori Bergquist's blog is titled "Deluxe T&T Update 43 is out...and it actually worried me a bit". Well... Same over here at Timinits & Trolls!

I have read Liz Danforth's long update message about the Deluxe T&T kickstarter, and the more I read, the more I grew worried!
There's been a number of illustrations made available on the kickstarter updates but, basically, I am under the impression that the real work on the text of DT&T hasn't started yet. I know Liz was severely ill but reading sentences like “we haven't decided yet whether we should go class-less” or “Ken wanted elves, fairies, hobs, trolls, or ratlings to be their own class” is simply mind-boggling. The former architectural decision would turn DT&T into BRP/RQ, the latter into classic fantasy! Most of us already own and play those games, we don't need yet another d100 based game or classic fantasy clone— what we need is a streamlined version of Tunnels & Trolls combining the best features of the 5th ed., of the 30th anniversary rules, and of the French edition. Period.

I am a sad Troll

Still from Liz: “One of the Kickstarter comments was a request for the Table of Contents. I can’t give that to you”. Er, this to me translates as: 'I haven't started yet so how could I possibly give you even a tentative ToC?'. Sigh.

At this stage, I don't even want DT&T to be shipped in 2014— That would mean the game hasn't been sufficiently play-tested before it's made available. Grr.

Guide to Glorantha Update

Here are the latest news with regard to the Guide.

First, Rick has posted the following to the backers:
Being larger sized pages [賈尼: the Guide will be a coffee-table book, larger than the usual 8.5 by 11 inches; I was told the exact dimensions, but since they were not in understandable SI units, I've already forgotten them], we have a number of new opportunities to present information visually. Even though we have a lot of text, we try to avoid just pages of columns. All of the new art and maps are beauties to behold, but we have a lot of pages to fill.

In the end, as we're approaching the completion of the first third of the layout, we know that getting everything done is going to require a little bit more time than our previously published timetable allows. Thus, we now see the completion of the layout bumping up to the middle of December.

What we now envision is printing the books in January, based on completion of the PDFs of the Guide and Atlas in December. Fortunately, we can distribute those PDFs as they get completed, with Volume One of the Guide, followed by the Atlas, and shortly thereafter Volume Two of the Guide.

Second, I've talked to Jeff yesterday who confirmed the news above. Basically, the larger size of the pages plus the fact that there is AWESOME art on EVERY page of the book slows down the layout process. However, we backers should get the PDFs in December. Then, in January, the books will go to the printer, which should make them available in Q1 2014.

Yummy!

My RPG Person Profile

OK, this is Zak's latest meme, to which I'm obviously succumbing. Here is my RPG Person Profile:

I'm currently running (at home): Oriental Monsters & Magic playtest campaign

Tabletop RPGs I'm currently playing (at home) include: HeroQuest

I'm currently running (online): nothing

Tabletop RPGs I'm currently playing (online) include: BRP, HeroQuest, RuneQuest 6

I would especially like to play/run: Monkey, Tunnels & Trolls, Wordplay

...but would also try: Aquelarre, Món de monstres

I live in: Paris

2 or 3 well-known RPG products other people made that I like: Death Frost Doom, Gloranthan Classics: Pavis & Big Rubble, Rome: Life and Death of the Republic

2 or 3 novels I like: The Age of Doubt, The Name of the Rose, The Water Margin

2 or 3 movies I like: A Chinese Ghost Story, North by Northwest, Yongseoneun Eopda

Best place to find me on-line: G+

I will read almost anything on tabletop RPGs if it's: set in Glorantha

I really do not want to hear about: theories about role-playing games -- I like to play rpg's not to think about rpg's

I think dead orc babies are: cliché'd

Games I'm in are like: http://eternal-con.de/

Free RPG Content I made for Glorantha is available here.

Free RPG Content I made for Imperial China is available here.

Free RPG Content I made for weird fantasy role-playing is available here.

You can buy RPG stuff I made about BRP China here.

If you know anything about East Asia, it'd help me with a project I'm working on.

Cultural Maps from the Upcoming Guide to Glorantha

The Guide to Glorantha should be available by the end of the year. The text is fully written and has been proofread. Jeff et al are now busy with the artistic part: the illustrations and, of course, this being a fantasy product, the maps.

The two maps below have been 'leaked' on the Glorantha G+ community and on the new Glorantha web-site a few days ago. Funnily enough, they both cover my favourite part of Glorantha: Umathela. Enjoy!

Nostalgia and Adolescence

I don't know if it's become some kind of meme already, but there are a few posts out there on G+ about what fantasy gamers enjoyed as novels, art, etc. during their formative years.

I spent my early teenage years in a relatively quiet town in south-western France, and then the family moved to the far suburbs of Paris when I was 15. As a result, I wasn't exposed to many novelties in terms of comics, games or novels. My foraging trips to Toulouse (first), and Paris (last) were important journeys to organise, and they would cost me a lot of pocket money, so they had to be well planned. Mostly, I needed to be sure that some "wow" stuff was to be found, else I'd simply postpone the trip.

Living in the sticks as I was, I hadn't access to any fanzines, etc., and mail order was still in its infancy for anything that wasn't clothes, so I could only rely on Jeux & Stratégie to learn about new games. Contrary to a lot of fellow gamers, I started with war games.

Jeux & Stratégie would carry a free pull-out war game in each issue, and one of these was a bizarre boardgame without any hexes and strange counters:

So the next time I went to my FLGS in Toulouse, I learnt about role-playing games. Apparently, they were fantasy-themed tactical war games that didn't need a board!

I bought the Holmes box and was instantly hooked. I soon bought all the issues of Casus Belli I could get my hands on, and GM'ed the adventures therein for my neighbours.

In terms of other items of geekdom, I didn't read any (US) comics at the time, and I hadn't been exposed to Anglo-Saxon fantasy either. My childhood fantasy world was the classic world of the Grimm stories or of Central European legend:

Again, contrary to what happened to most fellow gamers out there, I didn't start playing D&D because I had read Tolkien, but the other way round: I started reading Tolkien because it seemed so similar to D&D!

After we moved to Suburbia, I was lucky enough to have a huge library really close to home that carried all the Temps Futurs books: Leiber, Lovecraft, Moorcock, et al. I became an avid reader of fantasy novels.

In those same years, I bought the French translation of Tunnels & Trolls, which became my favourite role-playing game as a GM (never liked the solos).

This, in turn, prompted me to look for the Sorcerer's Apprentice the first time I went to the US.
 I bought a huge stack of past issues, and that in turn introduced me to the fantastic notion of house rules (as well as it introduced me to very fine fantasy short stories).

Using Monster Island in Second-Age Glorantha

Monster Island for RuneQuest 6 by the Design Mechanism has been available for quite some time now, but due to very long holidays —not that I am going to complain— which have completely dried up my bank account, I haven't been able to lay my grubby hands on this mouth-watering tome yet.

I have already blogged about this S&S sandbox supplement, so I am not going to go through a description again, especially since I haven't seen the final product.

However, a recent thread on Google+ has sparked renewed interest in Monster Island, viz:

I want to set Monster Island in Second-Age Glorantha but my players are asking where exactly the Island is and what year in 2nd Age - would appreciate any advice on both?

to which I have answered along the lines of:

There is a monster island off the coast of Pamaltela— Loral. According to the upcoming Guide of Glorantha: “Loral was inhabited by humans before the Closing. Their land used to be called the Queendom of Loral”.
As for the year to set the campaign in, it could be just before the Closing, to add an impending sense of doom!

And if you rotate the map of Monster Island ninety degrees anticlockwise, it even becomes very similar to the map of Loral!

Map of Second-Age Slontos before the Sinking

The title says it all:

click to enlarge

(from the Glorantha community on G+)

New “glorantha.com” web-site

As I had announced on 21 May 2013, Moon Design have acquired from Greg Stafford the rights to the world of Glorantha. The acquisition has been finalised as of 14 August, and as a result Moon Design is reshuffling and restructuring its web-site.

The first step has been a change in the domain name (glorantha.com rather than moondesignpublishing.com), but more is in the works, as Moon Design are obviously going to take advantage of the acquisition to emphasise the world of Glorantha and to recentre their line of business by focusing more on Glorantha and, apparently, not only through HeroQuest if I am to believe what the good people at Moon Design have written on the various social networks. That was a long sentence.

One consequence is that the user credentials from moondesignpublishing.com are not necessarily going to be carried over to glorantha.com, so watch the latter and make sure your account is still working/has to be re-instated.

Another consequence is that you may lose the ability to download whatever PDFs you had bought from the online store so, again, watch the latter web-site and make sure you still have access to your purchases. If you don't, contact Moon Design through this page.

The forums re-start from scratch. Stop using the old forum and move on to the new one. You will have to re-create a user account ☹ and man does the interface suck.

Guide to Glorantha KS Update (cont'd)

The upcoming Guide to Glorantha will include a massively detailed map of Glorantha, including Pamaltela!

Backers of the project have received 'sneak peek' PDFs of the atlas. Here's a small excerpt of central Umathela, just you give you an idea of the sheer detail of the maps:

click to enlarge

Lioness Lamia

When it comes to inspirational art, Le Chaudron chromatique is definitely one of my favourite blogs. Cédric just keeps posting the most inspirational weird illustrations in an amazing black-and-white ligne claire style. I have already posted quite a few of his works (just click on the inspirational label on the left hand-side), which are usually inspired either by Slavic mythology or by weird fantasy à la Lamentations of the Flame Princess — and both of them are definitely cool with me!

click to enlarge

Today's picture is an awesome Lamia crawling out of her lioness body. Cédric presents various theories as to why Lamiæ should hide in a lioness body, and various consequences as to their ecology. They can all be adopted for a Second Age game.

RuneQuest Ad

This is an October 1990 ad for the Spanish version of RuneQuest, published by Joc Internacional.

I really dig the drawing and the 'hand drawn' looks of the Runes.

War in Glorantha KS

There's just too much Gloranthan goodness going on at the moment. Look what's KickStarter'ing this summer:

click to enlarge

Guide to Glorantha KS Update (cont'd)

Update No.38 has just been posted on the Kickstarter page of the Guide to Glorantha. Since I do not know how accessible this page is, I'll just copy 'n paste the interesting bits here. BTW— not much new information if you've been a loyal follower of this blog.

1. The mapping stretch goals turned out to be even more massive than we thought. Pamaltela (which is done) is about 50% BIGGER than Genertela (once Kralorela and Teshnos got added). We have finished Kralorela, Teshnos, Pent, Jrustela, Teleos, Pamaltela, and Slon, plus a few sundry other islands. It took Colin and Jeff nearly two years to do the first two-thirds of Genertela. In the last six months, they've done about twice that much work. Colin and Jeff are now working on Vormain and the East Islands. After that we hope to crowd-source fact check the entire set of maps, so that no stupid typos mar this masterpiece. We hope to be able to be done with Vormain and the East Islands in about two weeks (but this is really complicated mapping, so it may take longer).

2. There was SO much new art — and of so much detail — that it has taken longer to finish than expected. Several key artists still have several plates to finish. Most of those pictures had several thousand words written to describe what the picture should look like, in intricate detail [賈尼— We want a book with all that accompanying text!].

3. Additional Appendixes. There are still several appendixes (including hero-questing, Hero Wars events, etc) resulting from the huge number of stretch goals, that Jeff needs to finalise. Once the maps are finished, it will be easy to finish them up.

Once the text and art is finished, then the Guide goes over to Rick for layout and then printing. The Argan Argar Atlas will be ready once the maps are finished and checked, so that will get done first, most likely for a Gen Con Debut [賈尼— 15-18 August 2013]. The Guide itself is looking more like a Fall 2013 release [賈尼— I says December. Wanna wager?].

You Are Here

This is less detailed than the map I've posted a while ago, but it gives a clear idea of where Umathela lies with regards to the neighbouring lands. And yes, it is a Third Age map.

You are here

Slon

OK, if this picture doesn't sell you Pamaltela, you're fuсking hopeless.

Dinosaur-riding cavemen fighting Mostali musketeers in Slon

The Design Mechanism Seminar

The Design Mechanism's panel was held on Saturday night. Loz highlighted what happened since last year's panel, when the RuneQuest 6 rule book was about to be published.

✠ RuneQuest 6 core book: the sales have better than anticipated, with customers evenly split between dead tree and electronic format. There are customers from all over the world, but the core market is obviously constituted by the English-speaking countries.

✠ the Book of Quests is out. It consists of seven linked scenarios, written by new authors; since the reception has been good, a "Book of Quests II" is likely to see the light in 2014.

✠ the Design Mechanism are busy preparing Monster Island for release in September. This is a 100% Pete Nash product. It is NOT a mere book of monsters; it is a pulp/S&S sandbox populated with monsters, over 80 of them. It was actually thought of as a homage to Griffin Island. The PDF map will have layers so that the GM can customise his printouts. Also, the book is illustrated by legendary British illustrator Russ Nicholson.

✠ There are quite a few other setting books in the pipe [thank you bloody iPad for having eaten up all my notes on this part of the panel]:
    ‣ a Luther Arkwright setting book. The Design Mechanism managed to get hold of the licence of this famous (at least in Britain) steampunk/plane-hopping/sci-fi comics series by Bryan Talbot. It will include rules for firearms, vehicles, etc.; everything needed for a contemporary setting.
    ‣ Shores of Korantia, a new campaign/setting book by the author of Age of Treason
    ‣ The Fall of Byzantium, by Michael 'MOB' O'Brien. This is going to be a historical campaign/supplement focusing on the two-month siege of Byzantium in 1453 by Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II.
    ‣ I'm pretty sure another book was mentioned, but the evil iPad ate my notes.

✠ There is going to be a KickStarter for a hardback edition of the RuneQuest 6 rule book

✠ There are quite a few translations of RQ6 in the pipe: French, Spanish, German, possibly Swedish.

✠ The above are the plans for 2013. The plans for 2014 are as follows: more historical settings (Mythic Briton), a RQ6 sourcebook for Glorantha called RuneQuest: Adventures in Glorantha, RQ6 articles in Wyrms Footnotes, and a RQ6 campaign pack set in a particular area of Third Age Glorantha.

⁂

The last panel (on Sunday night) was a common Moon Design/Design Mechanism panel. I missed it because I was busy GM'ing Arrows of Indra. Apparently, the panel involved a large crowd of Glorantha drunkards enthusiasts who managed to mob the Design Mechanism into writing more Gloranthan stuff, and earlier than expected. As a result of the common panel, RuneQuest: Adventures in Glorantha has become a top priority; Pete Nash is taking the reins of the project, and he will start work on it very soon. The idea is to release RQ: AiG as close as possible to the Guide to Glorantha (see the relevant blog entry). Also, the area the Design Mechanism will focus upon is going to be a different one from the one initially expected.
A side effect of this focus on Gloranthan material for RQ6 is that Luther Arkwright: Role-Playing Across the Parallels and the historical settings will be delayed.

Pronunciation

There was a recent post by Charles about the pronunciation of Gloranthan names on the Moon Design forum. It prompted me to have an in-depth look into that. I've always thought that linguistics was the weak part of Glorantha. You can easily notice that Greg Stafford is bigtime into religion and mythology, but not languages! Anyway, the fact that those pronunciation guidelines use bits and pieces of English syllables rather than the International Phonetic Alphabet doesn't help either.

I would say that most of them correspond to the way I would've pronounced them, except maybe the way some words are stressed.

The most surprising pronunciations were:

Babeester Gor             BAH-bees-ter GORE ['bɑbistə 'ɡɔɹ]. I would've stressed the second syllable myself.
Bagog                         ba-GOG [bæ'gɒg]. I would've stressed the first syllable.
Ginna Jar                     GIN-nuh JAR ['gɪnnʌ 'dʒɑː]. For some reason I was expecting a soft 'G'.
Godunya                     goe-DOON-yah [gəʊ'dunjɑ]. This I had really no idea how to pronounce it!
Himile                         hih-MEEL [hɪ'mil]. Another name I had no idea how to pronounce.
Hyalor                         HIGH-ah-lor ['haɪɒlə]. Ditto.
Jmijie                          zh’MEE-zheh ['ʒmiʒe]. Weird.
Kajaboor                    KAHZH-ah-bor ['kɑʒɑbɔɹ]. Wow.
Keraun                        kerr-AHN [ker'rɑn].
Metsyla                       met-SIGH-lah [met'saɪlɑ]. For some reason I was expecting a short 'i' in the middle.
Mikyh                         MIK-yuh ['mɪkjʌ]. Another unexpected one.
Pamalt                         PAM-ahlt ['pæmɑlt]. I'd always stressed the second syllable.
Seseine                       seh-SAEN-ay [se'seɪneɪ]. I'm pretty sure Jeff pronounces it [se'sin].
Subere                        soo-BEER-ee [su'biri].
Teelo Noori                TEE-loe NOR-ee ['tiləʊ 'nɔɹi].
Tien                            t’YEN [tjen].
Jrusteli                        j’russ-TEL-i [dʒrʌs'teli]. I'm pretty sure I've heard Jeff pronounce it with an initial [ʒ].

Back from the Eternal Convention (cont'd)

Further pics. These are from Sunday.

live game of Trollball

close-up of the winning team

Me GMing Arrows of Indra

the loot! (mostly from the traditional Sunday night auction)

Huge On-Line Archive of Spanish-Language Gaming Magazines

Thanks to Spanish-language blogger Cronista, I have been made aware of a huge treasure trove of Spanish-language gaming magazines.

The site Sinergia de rol hosts an impressive quantity of quite high quality scans of Spanish gaming magazines from the 1980s and the 1990s, amongst which many that tackled RuneQuest and Glorantha. Líder magazine, for instance, was the flagship magazine of Joc Internacional, who published both the RuneQuest and the Call of Cthulhu role-playing games at the time.

If you read Spanish, you will find many interesting analyses, house rules, and adventures for RuneQuest in the pages of Líder magazine. In issue No.8 of Líder, for instance, there is a long RuneQuest scenario (pages 31 to 39) set in the Elamle Peninsula, in Third Age Pamaltela!

Edit:  The Troll 'zine is also quite interesting. It was the 'zine of the Barcelona-based Auryn role-playing club, whose members were actively promoting RuneQuest in Spain at the time. Apparently, their home campaign was based in Pamaltela, because there is yet another scenario set in the Elamle Peninsula in issue No.17 of the Troll 'zine.

Moon Design Seminar

The traditional Moon Design seminar was held on Friday night. Here are my notes.

Guide To Glorantha
This was obviously the 'hot' topic, and first of all the availability of the product. The current ETA is "this year" (i.e., December) — the main reason is that a lot of supplementary art has been commissioned, and the art director has quite an obsession with detail :)

Honestly, we were treated to amazing art (incl. art commissioned by Kickstarter funders), and incredible maps, maps, maps: maps of the mythological ages, of the Sky, of the other worlds, geographical maps of Third Age Glorantha in unbelievable detail, magical maps, ethnic maps, trade maps, political maps... A map of the underwater roads of the Mirrorsea Bay (!!!). A map of the Closing... We can expect 100 pages of maps!
Oh, and did I mention the amazing art? Osprey-like colour plates, portraits of the various Mostali sub-races, Kralorelan art...

The most awesome picture from the seminar was actually one that formed in my head, evoked by Jeff's words: Dinosaur-riding cavemen attacking Dwarves armed with muskets in Slon.
Edit: this picture is now visible on the Gloranthan Google+ community page.

Upcoming products
The Guide To Glorantha was on everyone's minds, but obviously we also wanted to know about other products. So here's the latest from your favourite sleuth:
- There will be Gloranthan RuneQuest 6 products by the Design Mechanism [see the upcoming blog entry]
- Other Moon Design products are on hold until the GtG is out (because authors need it to write canonical stuff)
Status on the upcoming books:
- First one out possibly Gods of Glorantha, to complement GtG
- a Gloranthan bestiary by Pete Nash
- the Coming Storm (a massive Sartarite campaign) by Ian Cooper
The manuscripts of the two previous books are almost finished. The issue, again, is art.
- Big Rubble companion (at the moment, this is only a project)
- King of Sartar re-write by Greg Stafford, good progress

At the end we had a Q&A session; here are mine:
- last year during the con, Moon Design mentioned one or even two Gloranthan boardgames — Jeff & Rick now mention three boardgames in the works.
- Teleos: pirates in the Second Age, peaceful people in the Third Age. What happened? The Closing & the Opening. Same for Loral. This will apparently be mentioned in the historical parts of the Guide.

Back from the Eternal Convention

The convention was fantastic, but I'm too tired now to write anything, so have a look at the Saturday pictures, and wait for my next blog entry!

The Moon Design seminar

an Umathelan Malkioni at the freeform

Every year, we get to play an incomprehensible card game.

Me GM'ing Monsters & Magic

Sunny weather!

To be continued...

Guide to Glorantha KS Update (cont'd)

Frankly, we knew the Guide to Glorantha would be late. With all the stretch goals that just kept being added during the KS phase, this comes as no surprise. But I tell you— I'll take a late, expanded Guide chock-full of new information over an on-time one that is just a rehash of the Avalon Hill material any day!

So on to the latest information from Moon Design: Jeff and the team are nearly done detailing Pamaltela, which turns out to be 50% BIGGER than all of Genertela [Pamaltelaaaaaaa!!! ‒賈尼]. Plus they've finished Jrustela, Teleos, Kumanku, and a few other places.

The manuscript that started out at a slim 400 pages is almost at 520 pages, and there's still more to do. Another "sneak peek" is close at hand.

We've signed up to do the same to Vormain, Vithela and the East Isles - and we will be starting that in full swing after Eternal Convention (May 17-20) [I'll be there! ‒賈尼]. Keep in mind that this is no little archipelago - and very, very underdetailed despite all of Greg and Sandy's notes. That means a lot more work. Jeff and Colin hope to have a feeling for how much new work later this month, but the point is that the book is not going to be ready for layout until the East Islands are done.

As for the Argan Argar Atlas, it's growing as well. Check out the NEW overview page for Pamaltela as the last sample picture [Pamaltelaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!! ‒賈尼].

Home at last

It looks like the new ETA for the Guide will be August 2013. I'll torture ask Jeff and the others during Eternal Con and I will let you know on the blog.